Child Psychologist Robert R. Butterworth, Ph.D., Reacts to ABC Interview of Elian Gonzales.News/Entertainment Editors LOS ANGELES--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--March 27, 2000 According to Child Psychologist child psychologist Psychology A mental health professional with a PhD in psychology who administer tests, evaluates and treats children's emotional disorders, but can't prescribe medications Robert R. Butterworth,Ph.D., "The ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. Interview of, six-year-old Elian Gonzales on Good Morning America Good Morning America is a weekday morning news show that is broadcast on the ABC television network. The show was adapted from The Morning Exchange, a morning show created by and airing on the ABC affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio, and was launched nationally as , today is nothing short of psychological and political exploitation of a helpless victim who, in a child psychologist's opinion, is under the spell of his Miami relatives and any opinion that this child may voice concerning his future in the U.S. has to be suspect." Butterworth believes that Elian Gonzales is suffering from a form of the "Stockholm Syndrome Stockholm Syndrome Definition Stockholm syndrome refers to a group of psychological symptoms that occur in some persons in a captive or hostage situation. ," in which victims identify with their captors and turn against their loved ones, his father. "The 'Stockholm Syndrome' is even more severe because of the age of the child-hostage, his relationship with the captor, and the latter's ruthless psychological exploitation of the relationship. Thus, any testimony that this child would give on living arrangement preferences in the ABC interview could be clouded by this psychological type of brainwashing brainwashing Systematic effort to destroy an individual's former loyalties and beliefs and to substitute loyalty to a new ideology or power. It has been used by religious cults as well as by radical political groups. ," said Butterworth. "When relatives fight over custody, they are obviously not going to tell the child that their other parent is wonderful, still loves them and wants to see them. On the contrary, in many cases, the children are told that their other parent is bad, who has abandoned them and could see them at any time if only he wanted to." "Elian may never recover from this experience. He will become confused and angry towards his father. Who knows what messages his relatives have conveyed to him. Elian could begin to feel that his father has abandoned him. "We know only too well how traumatic it is for children if they are suddenly denied one of their parents. We know that traumatized children can grow into traumatized adults," Butterworth said. Many studies have been done in the United States about what is known as "Parental Alienation Syndrome Parental Alienation Syndrome is a putative disorder proposed by Richard A. Gardner as "a disturbance in which children are obsessively preoccupied with depreciation and/or criticism of a parent. In other words, denigration that is unjustified and or exaggerated. ," -- when one parent systematically denigrates the other -- and its devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. effect on children. The child soon replaces the positive memories of the absent parent with hurt and anger at what he/she sees, and is encouraged to see, as abandonment and betrayal. The child ends up asserting vehemently that he/she does not want contact with the victim parent. |
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